An amateur cooking blog with recipes, reviews, pictures, and hijinks.

We’re in week six of the mag-style booklet Best of America’s Test Kitchen, available on newsstands through the end of April ’09. This is so far the only publication we’ve extended to a second month — what can I say, it’s just that good.

So far we’ve covered the following dishes in Best of America’s Test Kitchen 2009:

I have three more sitting in the hopper, and I know CC has a few to review once he gets off his rear end and posts them.

We’re looking for others who want to participate in the Magazine of the Month, so if you’re interested, send us an email through the contact link. Whether you have your own blog and prefer that we link to you, or want to participate here directly… whatever. We’re an easy going group, but we do request that you can actually write coherently. Drop us a note if you’re interested!

So let’s talk about the Camembert, Bacon, and Potato Tart. First thing to note is my photo above — those lovely little triangles are not Camembert. My grocery store had somehow run out, so they suggested I work with Brie. I like Brie and they are similar, so I went with that instead.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the number one issue that deters chefs from making a tart: The dough.

Dough is often laborious and messy, involving rolling pins and fussiness, and flinging tiny, wet chunks of dough on the floor and dropping them through the crack between the oven and the counter. The test kitchen, once again, provides a fantastic method: The dough is created solely in the food processor, then balled up into walnut-sized pieces and placed in the pan. Then they’re pressed down flat, thusly:

The dough is covered and frozen for 30 minutes, and then we get to the good stuff: the tart guts.

Sounds appetizing, no?

Diced bacon is fried and removed, then onion and sliced Yukon Golds are placed in a pan with the bacon grease and a bit of butter. Eventually, after the fresh thyme is added in with some salt and pepper, the bacon rejoins the party.

The mixture is then placed inside of the tart shell, which baked while you were making the tasty tart guts. Everything is then baked altogether with the sliced Camembert on top or, as in my case, Brie.

I wish I had put more cheese on this; that’s pretty much the only thing that could have made it even better. The tart dough held a hint of sweetness, which was a nice trade off for the salty bacon.

Potatoes and bacon are great together anyway, and the combination of having it in one tight little package made it that much better. Here’s a side view:

The next night we had it as leftovers, and found that it actually reheated quite nicely in the microwave — a definite plus. I don’t know if it was magnificent enough to put in a weekly rotation, but I wouldn’t be against making this for a casual potluck. I liked it because it was different than the usual one-pot meal and a flaky pie crust always puts a smile on my face. This is something I would definitely recommend making — as long as more cheese is involved. If I had put at least two more slices of Brie on top, then it would have been perfect.